ARC Book Review: Highcliffe House by Megan Walker

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Megan Walker
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Release Date: March 7th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Love ignites when two rivals vie to secure a possible fortune at the seaside town of Brighton.

Brighton, England, 1813

When a romantic entanglement leaves her humiliated and reeling, Anna Lane wants nothing more than for her father to whisk her away from the gossip of the ton. Unfortunately, he has obligations elsewhere, leaving her stuck in London.

Graham Everett’s financial security depends on an investment with Mr. Lane, his long-time friend and business partner. He’ll do just about anything to secure it for his family, even if it means fighting spoiled, embittered Anna for her father’s attention.

Luckily, Mr. Lane concocts a plan that will give everyone what they wat, with one stipulation: Anna must accompany Graham to Brighton in her father’s stead and make a decision to invest—or not—based on a thorough report.

But it will take more than a day at the beach for these two headstrong hearts to admit that they’ve been wrong about each other. If they are willing to invest a little time working out their differences, they might have a chance at real love.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain for the ARC.

LOVED IT.

Goodness this was such a lovely book. I needed a read like this. I loved how this enemies/rivals to lovers was portrayed and thank heavens for dual POV. I loved getting to know both Graham and Anna. Slowly watching their realizations and misconceptions about each other were wrong and finding that long standing connection between them turn into love was all sorts of romantic.

I adored the banter and the tender moments woven throughout the story. This book was full of heat and the simmering tension had me begging for them to kiss already. I loved the longing glances and tiny touches.

What I loved all the more was that anytime I thought that things were going to turn in a direction I wouldn’t love, communication and care showed itself. I LOVE how the conflicts were handled. There’s arguments and trouble, but also forgiveness and appreciation. Megan Walker continues to be one of my favorite historical romance authors.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low

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Book Review: The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Fiction
Length: 312 pages
Author: Marjan Kamali
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: June 18th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A poignant, heartfelt new novel by the award-nominated author of Together Tea—extolled by the Wall Street Journal as a “moving tale of lost love” and by Shelf Awareness as “a powerful, heartbreaking story”—explores loss, reconciliation, and the quirks of fate.

Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.

Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.

A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?

HURT ME.

This book hurt me deeply y’all. DEEPLY. Honestly the ending wasn’t everything *I* was needing and left me a bit bereft and filled with all the feelings.

BUT, this was still an amazingly good read. I was attached to the audiobook because I had to keep seeing how this story unfolded. I loved the historical fiction aspects and reading about a part of history I don’t know a lot about. I love learning through books and this brought an intense amount of insight to the pain of the time period.

And I do love a book that makes me feel every emotion. I was on that journey with Roya and was pulled every which way with her. There’s many many things to unpack in this story and the complications that life ultimately brings.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical fiction
  • Language: none-low
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: suicide attempt, abortion, war, violence, child loss

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Book Review: Love at First Psych by Cara Bastone

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 4h 35 min audiobook
Author: Cara Bastone
Publisher: Audible Audio
Release Date: March 2nd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

True love is put to the test in this romantic comedy brought to hilarious life by Santino Fontana (Frozen, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Stephanie Einstein, and a full cast!

This Psych 312 assignment just might send me off the deep end. Determining whether love at first sight really exists with Robbie Moravian as my project partner of all people?

He’s the sappiest man alive, so upbeat I could scream, and clearly rooting for happy endings at every turn. How does he not learn from experience considering our own meet-cute last semester almost got us expelled?

But we both need to pass this course to graduate. So we’re interviewing five random couples about their meet-cutes and relationships and spending all this time together. Which is certainly…educational.

Because it turns out Robbie isn’t just the charming golden boy I thought I knew. There’s some actual depth beneath all those lame dad jokes and the ‘70s-inspired thrift wardrobe (even if he does look ridiculously great in a flared collar). Next thing I know he’s walking me back to my office on the regular and finishing all my sentences and protecting me from freak storms, and…

Wait. Could Robbie be right? Can happy endings really come from unhappy beginnings? Is he about to change my entire world view?

Group projects are the worst.

SUPER CUTE.

I hope these short and sweet audiobooks by Bastone never stop because I have really adored each one. This was another great, quick read that brought a smile to my face.

I loved Robbie’s BIG golden retriever energy and the reverse grump x sunshine dynamic. I know Marigold comes off a bit poorly in the beginning, but with this being so short you see the growth in her character quickly. Yes, it’s all a bit cheesy and can feel a bit much. I liked it for what it was and the boost of serotonin it gave me.

All of the interviews left pulled me out of the story and I wish those would have been shortened or not overall included. I know it was the basis of the plot, yet I was easily side tracked and wanting more of the romance between the main couple.

Cute and quick, recommend if you’re needing something light and simple.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance Novella
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

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ARC Book Review: The Girl from the Hidden Forest by Hannah Linder

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Mystery
Length: 320 pages
Author: Hannah Linder
Publisher: Barbour Books
Release Date: April 30th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Eliza’s Memories Threaten to Kill Her Enjoy another Gothic Style Regency from Hannah Linder. Eliza Ellis has stayed hidden in Balfour Forest for as long as she can remember. Perhaps her only friends are the trees, or her little dog, or her story-telling father called Captain. But at least she is safe from the cruel world outside, a world Captain has warned her against and protected her from. That is, until a handsome stranger named Felton Northwood invades her quiet forest and steals her away. Why does he tell such lies? Why does he insist that her name is Miss Eliza Gillingham, daughter of a viscount, who disappeared fourteen years ago after the murder of her own mother? A murder Eliza is said to have witnessed. When Felton returns Eliza to Monbury Hall and reunites her with a man who is told to be her father, all she remembers are the strange nightmares that have plagued her since childhood. Why have they suddenly grown worse? Are the answers hidden inside her own mind? As danger mounts and lethal attempts are made on her life, Eliza and Felton must work together to uncover the identity of a killer who has stayed silent for fourteen years. When she finally uncovers the horrendous memories trapped in her mind, will divulging the truth cost her the man she loves–and both of their lives?

Thank you to AustenProse and the publisher for an eARC.

MYSTERIOUS.

I really liked the atmosphere of this book. There’s a subtle haunting vibe woven throughout that makes the book feel perfectly eerie. I was intrigued from the first chapter. It hooks you and pulls you in to a mystery that needs solving. A murderer that needs found an absolution that needs given. For awhile the story kept my attention.

The middle lost me a little bit because I felt different scenes dragged out or felt repetitive. And while the snippet POV’s of the antagonist were there I’m not sure how helpful they were to the whole story. I think keeping the POV’s for Felton and Eliza would have smoothed out some plot bumps. There subtle romance was sweet and I’m glad the found each other and were able to learn to trust throughout the extenuating circumstances.

The chapters are longer but I enjoyed the fast pace switching of POV’s. There’s a nice level of heated action, and not knowing who’s going to survive. I thought the reveals were surprising and liked how everything wrapped up in the end.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Mystery
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: multiple attempted murders, loss of loved ones, near death experiences, kidnapping, brief torture

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